In a world of talkers, silence catapulted a creator of content to the peak of success. Khaby Lame, a former factory worker in Italy, is TikTok’s most popular video producer, with over 251.9 million followers across his social media platforms. In 2022, he was listed in Fortune’s 40 Under 40 and Forbes’ 30 Under 30.
Khaby Lame Early Life
Lame was born in Senegal on March 9, 2000. When he was one year old, his family moved to a public housing project in Chivasso, near Turin, Italy. He has three siblings. He studied Italian schools until the age of 14 when his parents sent him to a Quranic school near Dakar. Lame worked as a CNC machine operator for a plant near Turin before being laid off in March 2020.
Social Media Success Journey
After being laid off after the COVID-19 outbreak, Lame started posting on TikTok. In his early films, he danced and played video games. He gained prominence with his video reactions to videos presenting sophisticated “life hacks” in the form of TikTok’s “duet” and “stitch” features, in which he executes the identical chore in a simple method, without saying anything, followed with a distinctive hand gesture.
In April 2021, he overcame Gianluca Vacchi as the most-followed Italian on TikTok and then surpassed Addison Rae to become the platform’s second most-followed personality overall. Lame featured in August 2021 as a co-star in Juventus FC’s unveiling of Manuel Locatelli.
As a matter of fact, almost 93 percent of communication in our everyday world is non-verbal. Khaby has unwittingly used this to perfection on social media to connect with his fanbase worldwide.
“Silence is a universal language. Anyone from Spain, Japan, or Dubai can understand. Grown-ups, kids, people of all ages,” he said.
In 2022, he was listed in Fortune’s 40 Under 40 and Forbes’ 30 Under 30.“When I started making videos during Covid-19, the idea was to make people smile. There was no strategy. I would wake up, eat, and make a video. I did not have any special camera, just a very bad phone. I did not have special lighting, so I used to open YouTube on the computer. The white backlight of the website provided me with the lighting I needed for my videos,” said Khaby.
At a time when content creators are using data to better understand their fanbase and design new tactics to increase likes, views, and subscribers, Khaby is satisfied with his work approach. When asked if his growing stature and popularity required a change in method, Khaby said no. “I don’t have a strategy.” “I’m just being myself on social media.”
When asked for advice for new and aspiring content makers, Khaby had one word: uniqueness. “Be yourself, be original, and simply start. Don’t keep uncertainties in your thoughts. Do not think, ‘What will people say?’ People will have opinions on everything, but this should not disturb you as a content provider.”
With popularity comes trolling too, and negative comments. When asked if negative comments bothered the most famous TikTok, Khaby replied in classic Arabic style. “I don’t care about negative comments. These are people hiding behind their phones. They do not mean anything to me. Khalaas.”
